Man in standoff gassed out of Briarcliff condo

By Alexis Stevens

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Charges are pending against a 61-year-old man who barricaded himself inside his DeKalb County condominium with a weapon for several hours Monday.

The man, whose name was not released, locked himself inside a Stillwood Chase condo shortly before 3 p.m., forcing police to close Briarcliff Road between Ponce de Leon Avenue and North Decatur Road.

SWAT team officers were called to the scene, and after numerous attempts to get the man out of the home, they used gas around 7:30 p.m., DeKalb police spokeswoman Mekka Parish told the AJC. The man walked out of the condo on his own and was transported to a hospital for evaluation, police said.

The man's wife called police to report that the man was making violent threats, Parish said. The woman was able to get out of the condo after the first officers arrived, Parish said.

The man is expected to face domestic violence charges, and additional charges are pending the execution of a search warrant in the condo, Parish said.

Jason Longshore, who lives in a neighboring complex, told the AJC officers entered his apartment around 3:30 p.m. to see if the windows provided a clear view of the suspect's condo, but then left, instructing Longshore and his girlfriend to stay inside.

Longshore said he couldn't tell which condo the suspect was in, but could hear and see much of the action from his own condo. Longshore used Twitter to keep others in the area updated on developments for several hours.

"From our window, we were looking out and had it cracked open," Longshore said. "We could see a good bit."

Longshore said he suspected the standoff was over when traffic began moving again on Briarcliff Road.